Comparison of three cord blood processing methods: hydroxyethyl starch, simple centrifugation and Sepax automated system

Different processing methods are being used to improve the quality of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Using hydroxyethyl starch, simple centrifugation and Sepax automation, this study was aimed to compare these three conventional methods. 90 cord blood samples were taken and processed by hydroxyethyl starch, simple centrifugation and Sepax automation methods. Then they were subjected to total nucleated cell (TNC) counting and CD34 positive counting as well as colony assay. Finally, all data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and ps less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The TNC recoveries in hydroxyethyl starch, simple centrifugation and Sepax automation methods were 76%, 71% and 80%, respectively (p> 0.05). The CD34+ cell recoveries in the Sepax automation and in the other two methods were 91% and 85%, respectively (p> 0.05). Also, the colony assay recoveries were not significantly different among the three methods (p> 0.05). No significant difference was seen in TNC number, CD34 positive counting and colony formation among the three different methods.